COLUMBUS, Ohio — There’s something about the last month of the season that seems to disagree with Tubby Smith. That’s when his Gophers teams fade and become unworthy of NCAA tournament consideration.

In the past three seasons, Smith’s Minnesota basketball program has lost 17 of 21 games in February, when teams are trying to solidify an NCAA bid.

Part of it is choking under pressure. Part of it is facing opponents that want it more. Part of it is reliving past failures.

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, it all added up to a 71-45 loss to No. 18 Ohio State. Minnesota committed 24 turnovers in losing for the second straight time and eighth time in 11 games.

Gophers fans have seen this before under Smith, hired in March 2007 to rebuild a program left in tatters by Dan Monson. Some are so fed up they have talked about contributing to a fund created on Twitter to buy out Smith’s contract at season’s end.

Even Gophers baseball alum and Twins pitcher Glen Perkins posted on his page (@glen_perkins): “count me in for a couples g’s.”

Athletics director Norwood Teague and associate AD Mike Ellis attended the game but didn’t comment on Smith or the basketball team.

When asked about whether his team still looked like it deserved to be in the NCAA tournament, Smith said, “When you get beat like this, it’s not going to sit well with people evaluating you.”

He could just as easily been referring to Teague.

“I still think we’ve got a good resume,” Smith said. “We’re just going through a tough time right now. This league is pretty good; if you don’t bring it every second, every day and every night, then this is the result.”

Getting clobbered on the road by the Buckeyes (19-7, 9-5), who reached the Final Four a year ago, isn’t the worst thing that could happen at this point. But the way it happened had to make Teague cringe. For significant stretches Thursday, Smith’s team looked like the junior varsity playing NBA all-stars. The Gophers (18-9, 6-8) shot just 29 percent from the field and seemed to almost quit as the deficit reached 30 points after they trailed 29-23 at halftime.

Last month, the Gophers were ranked as high as No. 8 in the country; now Teague has to wonder whether they could actually miss out on the NCAA tournament — and what he might do if that happens. Smith’s buyout is $2.5 million, but the program is also still paying the buyouts on Monson and former football coaches Tim Brewster and Glen Mason.

The fact also remains that Smith’s team still has a realistic chance to reach the NCAA tournament.

CBSSports.com‘s Jerry Palm had the Gophers as a No. 6 seed before Wednesday’s game. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi was a bit more critical of them after the 72-51 loss at Iowa on Sunday, dropping the Gophers to a No. 8 seed.

The overriding theme from Smith and players after the game was that turnovers — 41 in the past two games — put them in this situation more than anything else. They had just nine turnovers in a 58-53 overtime win over Wisconsin at home Feb. 14. But that couldn’t have been the only issue addressed when the team remained in the locker room far longer than usual after Wednesday’s ugly loss.

“Locker room stuff is between us in the locker room,” said sophomore center Mo Walker, who had seven points, five rebounds and six turnovers. “I don’t even want to share what happened in the locker room.”

When adversity strikes a team, it’s supposed to be able to count on its leadership to turn things around. But Smith said he’s still searching for senior leaders, just as in years past.

“When things aren’t going well and you’re making mistakes, things just start to snowball,” he said.

Rodney Williams, who went scoreless for the second straight game, probably should have never started or even played with a sore left shoulder. Trevor Mbakwe, who had four points on 2-for-6 shooting, lost his composure with four turnovers.

Andre Hollins, who finished with a game-high 11 points, nailed a jumper early in the second half to make it a 37-30 deficit, but Ohio State used a 16-0 run to send a season that started with so many expectations back into a seemingly unstoppable free fall that could put Smith’s job in jeopardy.

“This is the time of the year that teams are playing their best basketball,” Hollins said. “We’re not playing our best basketball, obviously, so we’ve got to turn it around.”

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in Sports

The Vikings reportedly will open next season where the last one ended in bitter disappointment. Minnesota will play at Philadelphia in the NFL opener on Thursday, Sept. 6, according to report Monday by sportscaster Howard Eskin, an Eagles sideline reporter. The Vikings lost 38-7 at Philadelphia in January's NFC Championship Game. The Eagles went on to win Super Bowl LII...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Twins second baseman Brian Dozier always makes an effort to bond with his keystone partner at shortstop. Since the second half of 2016, that has been young Jorge Polanco. So it was with great sadness that Dozier was forced to react Monday morning to news of Polanco’s 80-game steroid suspension, handed down on Sunday by Major...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Twins third baseman Miguel Sano has known Jorge Polanco since they were 12-year-old baseball prodigies in the famed town of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. So it was an emotional conversation on Sunday evening between the two teammates, friends for half their young lives, after Major League Baseball announced an 80-game steroid suspension...

EUGENE, Ore. — Sabrina Ionescu had 29 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and the second-seeded Oregon Ducks advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 101-73 victory over No. 10 Minnesota in the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament on Sunday night. It was the 11th straight victory for the Ducks, who are headed to the round of...

Since signing with the Timberwolves, Derrick Rose has insisted he still has something left in his 29-year-old legs. He proved as much Sunday night. After three underwhelming showings with the Wolves, Rose provided a spark for Minnesota during a 129-120 loss to Houston at Target Center. "Obviously, he's rejuvenated," Jimmy Butler said before the game. "I see him out there...

One word succinctly describes what’s transpired so far in the NCAA Tournament: Madness. But even that’s probably underselling it. A comeback for the ages by Nevada. An entire region left without a Top 4 seed in the Sweet 16 for the first time in tourney history. The 16-seed winner UMBC, falling short in its attempt to extend its historic run...